The Haunted Bones by PM Weldon Page B

down the street. Saw 'em when
they stepped out."
    She focused on the last voice and saw an
older gentleman with weathered skin and thinning gray hair talking
to a plainclothes detective. The detective was taking notes.
    "You saw the victims when they stepped out
of the building?"
    "Yeah, officer. They handed something off to
another cop and when he drove off…" The older man turned and
pointed back down the street. "This blue car eased up and looked at
them. Aimed a gun at them. The tall guy yelled something and dove
at the little lady."
    So McNally had seen the shooter and tried to
duck. Was he successful? No one was talking about their condition.
The other ambulance cranked up and honked, signaling people out of
the way. So the girl was being taken away. She noticed the name
across the side of the ambulance and then made sure they were from
the same place.
    Piedmont Hospital.
    "…some weird mask with lots of gold on it.
Yeah, it was a gold mask."
    Her ears perked up and she snapped her
attention back to the old guy and the cop. Gold mask?
    Only one shooter she knew wore a gold
mask.
    Black Angel.
    The news crews had their cameras out. Time
for her to go. If there was one thing she didn't want, it was to
have her face plastered all over the media.
    Once in her car, she locked the doors and
dialed Auggie. He answered on the third ring but she cut him off.
"I thought you said Black Angel couldn't take my job."
    "Well, yeah, that's what his representative
told me. Why?"
    "Because he just tried to take out McNally
in a public place."
    Auggie didn't answer right away. He put her
on hold, which just infuriated her even more. She was about to
throw the phone again when he came back on. "That wasn't Black
Angel. I just got a call from the rep. Said he's over there now,
watching."
    "Angel's rep is here?" She looked around the
car—front, sides, and behind her. "Where?"
    "I don't know. And you wouldn't recognize
him, either. No one sees either of them."
    She sank down in the seat. "Damn masked
marauders. You'd think they were anime villains or something. So if
it wasn't Angel, then who the hell was shooting at McNally?" Her
afterthought included the small cop.
    "I don't know. Maybe he's got more enemies
than just you." Auggie chuckled. "What's your beef with this guy,
anyway?"
    "He's nosy."
    "That's it?"
    "Yeah. So remember that, Auggie. I don't
like people being nosy."
    "Right." He disconnected.
    She lowered the phone and
looked around as the second ambulance, carrying McNally, drove by.
Once the people disappeared and the traffic straightened out, she
drove by The Alley Haunt . Police tape covered the entrance now and two uniformed
officers stood outside.
    How could things get any worse?

 
     
    Eleven
     
    I stood outside the hospital's triage. No,
strike that—I paced outside. I was waiting on Jewels, my own
shoulder stitched and bandaged. I had seen the gunman in time to
shout out a warning to Jewels, then reached out to her to grab her
with the intent of taking us both straight down and out of this
guy's line of sight.
    It was one hell of a time to have a
blackout.
    "McNally!"
    Vale came striding down the hallway. He was
dressed in a dark suit and a determined expression.
    "Sir, did you get the bag?"
    "Yes, it's on it's way to the GBI." He
looked at my shoulder in its sling, the bandage hid under my shirt,
though the blood and hole were still there. "Is it bad?"
    "Through and through. Good thing I'm thin.
They dug the slug out of the door frame."
    His gray eyes met mine. "Tell me what
happened."
    I went over what we did, how we were looking
at the bar and found the diary and letters behind the bar mirror.
"The officer had just taken the evidence when I saw the sedan.
Buick, maybe a 1999 model. Dark blue. I saw the driver level a gun
out of the driver's side window and when I turned to pull Julie
down with me, he fired." I looked away. "They said I landed on her.
Hard."
    "Devan." When he used my name it made me
nervous. "You